Here We Go Again…

So, here we are once AGAIN… We are preparing to go to the hospital for another heart procedure for Patrick BRIGHT and EARLY tomorrow morning. He is actually repeating the same heart procedure that he went through in September. For those of you who are just joining us on this journey with Patrick’s health, you can quickly catch up by reading our past posts HERE and HERE.

Since this particular procedure initially worked in September, we thankfully DO KNOW THAT IT WILL WORK. Our main goal at this point is getting Patrick’s heart on the CORRECT RHYTHM, and KEEPING IT THERE. There is HOPE that his heart can strengthen over time if we are able to do so for a long enough period of time. At the moment, his pump function is only at 20% which causes him to feel pretty lousy almost all of the time. And we simply have to get him feeling better or his heart and health will continue to deteriorate.

So, let me quickly fill y’all in on what has transpired since September… Patrick did have a sleep study performed at the end of September, and we found out that he does in fact have sleep apnea. His cardiologist told us that often times, sleep apnea and heart conditions go hand-in-hand. So, he is now on a breathing machine at night and is at least getting much better rest than before. This is also helping to take unnecessary strain off of his heart during the night time hours since he is not struggling to breathe while sleeping. And that is a MAJOR PLUS in our books!

Now, fast forward to 2 weeks ago. That was his last appointment with his cardiologist. We went in with HIGH HOPES that Patrick’s heart would have miraculously gone into a normal rhythm on its own. Unfortunately, the EKG revealed our worst fear… it was still beatingWAY TOO FAST. It has steadily been beating around 110 and should be beating at 60. (That is at resting heart rate.) At that point, his cardiologist said that Patrick had no other option than to immediately begin a new medication in attempts to slow him heart rate down and get it back into the right rhythm.

This was the medication that the cardiologist actually talked Patrick out of taking in September because it can be extremely TOXIC to your body. It can cause MAJOR ORGAN FAILURE, among many other horrific things. Patrick will now have to go in for regular testing to make sure his health remains the same and is not negatively effected in any way as a result of this medication. And he will have to do so for as long as he is on this medication. If the test results show any negative effects, he will IMMEDIATELY have to stop taking it.

Since then, he has had to take the HIGHEST DOSAGE ALLOWABLE since his last appointment, but after his procedure tomorrow, he will be able to lower the dosage a bit. So, please be in PRAYER for him that everything goes SMOOTHLY, and that it will work and that his heart will remain on the correct rhythm this time. More than anything, we have got to get him healthy and feeling good again.

We would like to thank all of you who have prayed for us, and sent KIND WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT over the past several months. It had meant more to us than any of you could ever imagine. We are truly so APPRECIATIVE for each and every one of you! <3